A massive crowd is again expected when Seattle Sounders FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC renew their Cascadia Cup rivalry on Saturday afternoon at CenturyLink Field. It’s also a massive match in the Western Conference playoff chase, with the clubs tied on 37 points for third place. Seattle returns home off a late 2-1 loss at San Jose last weekend, while Vancouver lost 2-0 at home to FC Dallas at midweek. Sounders FC have never lost to Whitecaps FC in MLS play, with the teams reaching a 2-2 draw in Vancouver earlier this season.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
Seattle Sounders FC saw their undefeated run come to an end after six games in dramatic fashion, with the San Jose Earthquakes scoring yet another stoppage time winner for a 2-1 victory Saturday at Buck Shaw Stadium. Sounders FC are in a tie for third place in the Western Conference with 37 points from 23 games.

LAST MATCH

HIGHLIGHTS: SJ 2, SEA 1

• The Earthquakes took the lead in the 71st minute of an end-to-end match. Simon Dawkins wheeled on a headed pass from Steven Lenhart and beat Seattle goalkeeper Michael Gspurning to the near post from 12 yards.
• But Sounders FC evened the score in stoppage time when Sam Cronin couldn’t get enough on his attempted clearance of a long Seattle throw-in and Fredy Montero stabbed it home from point-blank range.
• But the Quakes’ comeback tradition continued when Steven Lenhart delivering the game-winner less than a minute later, heading home a Shea Salinas corner.
• Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid made five changes to the team that rolled to a 4-0 victory against the LA Galaxy at CenturyLink Field. Zach Scott, Marc Burch, Andy Rose, Christian Tiffert and Sammy Ochoa came into the team, in place of Patrick Ianni, Leo Gonzalez, Mauro Rosales, Fredy Montero and Eddie Johnson.
• SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (4-4-1-1): Michael Gspurning - Adam Johansson, Jeff Parke, Zach Scott, Marc Burch - Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Andy Rose (Mauro Rosales 82), Alex Caskey (Fredy Montero 84) - Christian Tiffert - Sammy Ochoa (Eddie Johnson 68).

TEAM NEWS
• Sounders FC saw their nine-game unbeaten streak over all competitions come to an end in the loss in San Jose. It was the club’s first defeat since the 2-1 loss in Portland on June 24.
• “It’s normal that you have one game like today,” said Sounders FC goalkeeper Michael Gspurning. “It shouldn’t happen, but it happens. But to have it within three days, to have two so unlucky games, I’ve never seen it before. It’s a week if we get over this mentally, then it makes us stronger. But those are just words. We didn’t reach our targets for this week and we have to speak about this.”
• It was the second goal Sounders FC have allowed this season in stoppage time to lose points – Diego Fagundez scored to give the New England Revolution a 2-2 draw on June 30.

WATCH: Seattle preview match with Vancouver

• “It’s inexcusable to give up that goal late. We talked about [San Jose’s set pieces] and showed our guys examples of it, and we had done a good job of marking [Steven] Lenhart on all the free kicks and corners up until [the goal],” said Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid. “You can’t give him a free path where he has three or four yards to run up to the ball because he’s a big guy and he jumps well and we paid the price for it.”
• Fredy Montero scored his third goal in the last four games. Four of Montero’s seven goals this season have come when he has come on as a substitute. In 208 career minutes off the bench, Montero now has five goals and two assists.
• The club’s newly signed Designated Player, Christian Tiffert, made his first MLS start after coming on as a substitute in the home match vs. LA.
• “He’s doing what we need him to do, which is help connect passes for us, help us keep possession and being able to attack as a unit,” Schmid noted. Said Tiffert: “I’m fit and I think I had some good action and good crosses. I also think we could play better because we have many good players, good technical players. San Jose played better than Seattle, but maybe next game we can create more chances.”
• Striker Sammy Ochoa made his first league start of the campaign, playing 68 minutes. It was his fifth league appearance this season, but first since June 20.
• “I thought Sammy Ochoa did what we asked him to do. Brad [Evans] was playing wide right, which is a different position for him,” said Schmid. “I thought all the guys stepped up and pretty much did what we asked them to do, but at the end of the day, we made a mistake with 15, 20 seconds to go in the game; that’s the last piece of the puzzle. We have the whole puzzle in front of us and we need to find that last piece.”
• Zach Scott made his first appearance in five matches, but at center back, after playing most of the season as a fullback.
• The club expects to have Honduras international midfield Mario Martinez in training by the end of the week, following the midweek friendly vs. Boca Juniors in Florida. Martinez was with Honduras in the London Olympic Games.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC saw their two-game winning streak and home unbeaten run come to an end at midweek, dropping a 2-0 decision to FC Dallas on Wednesday evening at BC Place. Whitecaps FC are in a three-way tie for third place in the Western Conference with 37 points from 25 games.

LAST MATCH

HIGHLIGHTS: VAN 0, DAL 2

• FC Dallas finally broke the deadlock in the 60th minute. Zach Loyd sent a throw-in to the corner of the penalty area, where David Ferreira flicked it on to Fabián Castillo. He then juked past a couple of ‘Caps defenders before doing well to get off his shot despite falling, slotting the ball in off the post.
• Ten minutes later, FCD made it 2-0 through substitute Jonathan Top. Ferreira made the play once again, holding off Andy O’Brien after racing onto a Jair Benitez ball over the backline, before setting Top up for the clinching goal.
• Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie made five changes to the team that defeated Real Salt Lake 2-1 at BC Place. Joe Cannon came back from suspension for Brad Knighton in goal, Andy O'Brien came into the back four for the injured Jay DeMerit, John Thorrington came in for the suspended Gershon Koffie, and Atiba Harris and Kenny Miller started for Dane Richards and Darren Mattocks, away on international duty.
• VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC (4-2-3-1): Joe Cannon - Lee Young-Pyo, Andy O'Brien, Martin Bonjour, Alain Rochat - John Thorrington (Matt Watson 76), Jun Marques Davidson - Atiba Harris (Michael Nanchoff 65), Barry Robson, Camilo - Kenny Miller (Caleb Clarke 81).

TEAM NEWS
• Whitecaps FC saw their nine-game unbeaten streak at BC Place Stadium come to end in the loss to FC Dallas. Their last home defeat was April 18, a 3-1 loss to Sporting KC.
• “We haven’t had many of these games here at BC Place. It’s not something we’re going to dwell upon,” said Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie. “There are some things we can work on and improve upon. It was just one of those games that never really got going. It was stop-start all the time and there was never really much rhythm to it. We weren’t able to get the ball moving like we would’ve liked.”

WATCH: Rennie discusses FC Dallas loss

• Said goalkeeper Joe Cannon: “We’re all gutted because we understand how important our fans are. I think this is the second loss we’ve had all year here. That’s one of those performances we’re going to like to forget real quickly and fortunately we have a big derby on Saturday.”
• With Jay DeMerit sidelined with concussion-like symptoms, Andy O’Brien made his first start in MLS, playing the full match in central defense.
• After coming off the substitutes’ bench for three consecutive matches, Kenny Miller was given his first start for Whitecaps FC, playing 81 minutes as the central striker.
• Atiba Harris made his first appearance since April 28, starting and played 65 minutes in a midfield role.
• John Thorrington also made his first league appearance since a long layoff, his last MLS action coming June 23. Thorrington played 76 minutes in a deeper-lying midfield role.
• “I don’t think anybody today could say they had a good game. I think the guys coming back in tonight did fine – a little bit rusty,” said Rennie. “It was one of those nights where everybody would say they could do better and rebound.”
• Caleb Clarke made his full professional debut, coming on for the final minutes in a striking position.
• “The guys come in, and they’ve not played in a while, it’s never easy. But they did a good job, they worked hard, they’re good players. I still think we did enough out there to win the football match,” said Barry Robson. “Maybe we were a wee bit tired after the weekend’s exploits.”